Gary Turner Keyser, age 78, of Front Royal, died Saturday, January 5, 2013, at the Blue Ridge Hospice Inpatient Care Center in Winchester.

A funeral service will be conducted on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. at Riverton United Methodist Church with Reverend Mike Derflinger officiating. Burial will follow in Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Mr. Keyser was born in Warren County on May 24, 1934, the son of the late Hallie Benton and Audra Kathleen Brown Keyser.

After serving in the Air Force, he began a career in Law Enforcement, in 1957 he became a Police Officer for the Town of Front Royal, in 1963 he was elected Sheriff of Warren County and served until 1974. In 1968 he was listed in Outstanding Men of America and in 1971 Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer. In 1974 he became an inspector for the Virginia Department of Corrections and in 1978 became an Extradition Officer for the same department. From 1982 until 1996 he served as the Superintendent of the White Post Correctional Unit #7 where he started the first Work Release Program in Warren County.

His memberships include the Front Royal Rotary Club, Jaycee's, Lions Club, Board of Directors for the American Red Cross, Board of Directors of the Salvation Army, the Cedarville Ruritan Club, Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge 374, Front Royal Volunteer Fire Department and the Director of the Virginia State Sheriff's Association.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Warren County Fire and Rescue, 221 S. Commerce Avenue, Front Royal, VA 22630 or the Humane Society of Warren County, 1245 Progress Drive, Front Royal, VA 22630.